Skip to main content

France ponders a car tax to fund road maintenance

French transport minister Elisabeth Borne is considering a tax on new cars to boost funds for road maintenance, according to media reports. Media reports that the country, once the top-ranked country for the condition of its roads, has dropped to seventh place due to issues over maintenance leading to an increased risk to users.
December 20, 2017 Read time: 1 min
French transport minister Elisabeth Borne is considering a tax on new cars to boost funds for road maintenance, according to media reports.


Media reports that the country, once the top-ranked country for the condition of its roads, has dropped to seventh place due to issues over maintenance leading to an increased risk to users.

A new car tax between €75-125 per vehicle – there are nearly 9 million cars in France - could generate an estimated €3-billion annually.

A car tax is one of several options for the government which will publish its preferences in January.

Other options are an increase in petrol tax and the introduction of a per-kilometre charge for both trucks and cars.

Related Content

  • New East Africa highway connecting Kenya, Tanzania, South Sudan
    June 8, 2016
    East African countries continue to implement a road Master Plan developed jointly under the East African Community initiative and which aims at integrating the region’s transport corridors to meet the growing demand for road transport by the increasing intra-regional trade and vehicular traffic. Kenya has for example unveiled a US$280 million road rehabilitation project to improve its links with Tanzania and South Sudan with the backing of the African Development Bank (AfDB). Rehabilitation of the 172
  • Strasbourg bypass surveys halted over environmental concerns
    September 27, 2017
    Further delays are looming for construction of the western Strasbourg bypass, a controversial toll motorway project in north eastern France. The government is concerned about environmental issues after Arcos, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Vinci responsible for building the bypass, said it was going to carry out field surveys in 1.5 hectares of what many consider environmentally sensitive areas.
  • Funding road research in Kenya as infrastructure development grows
    August 14, 2017
    The demand for road construction material research and testing services in Kenya is expected to soar. The East African country is going through a construction boom, despite policy and financial challenges facing public institutions overseeing the research and testing operations in the transport industry. “Kenya is going through a construction boom and so is the demand for construction material testing services,” said Juma Ali Madzitsa, Geotechnical Lab Supervisor at SGS Kenya, a subsidiary of Swiss based in
  • New Zealand ponders tolling new major roads
    July 22, 2024
    NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi (NZTA) said it will consider tolling for new Roads of National significance if the government wishes it.